Scientists at the University of Konstanz and Umeå University in Sweden have arrived at a structural model of the enzyme adenylate kinase in its closed state.
The adenylate kinase enzyme is crucial to managing the energy budget of cells, accelerating the biochemical process whereby energy is stored or released. The enzyme continuously changes between open and closed states. In its closed form, adenylate kinase is particularly active biochemically and thus able to accelerate the chemical reaction of “docked” molecules that it has encased like a clam. These are called ligands.